London, 1883. 125 Gower Street was once a house of justice, truth, and perspicacity. Now madness, murder, and scandal lurk in its empty halls. It is rumored that its owner-Sidney Grice, London's foremost personal detective-has been driven to the brink of despair. But, as with all good stories, we must begin at the beginning.
When Sidney Grice journeys to Yorkshire to solve a mysterious death, March Middleton, his ward, is left to her own devices in a London swarming with danger and vice. Curiosity, as we know, has a dark edge. So when an intriguing letter leads March to the gates of the palatial Saturn Villa and into the nightmarish world of her long-lost uncle, it could be the beginning of an end for all.
"Kasasian surpasses Grice's first two cases with a bizarre, clever, and constantly surprising whodunit."-Kirkus Reviews
The highly anticipated second novel in the charming, sharply plotted Victorian crime series starring a detective duo to rival Holmes and Watson
125 Gower Street, 1882. Sidney Grice once had a reputation as London’s most perspicacious personal detective. But since his last case led an innocent man to the gallows, business has been light. Listless and depressed, Grice has taken to lying in the bath for hours, emerging in the evenings for a little dry toast and a lot of tea. Usually a voracious reader, he will pick up neither book nor newspaper. He has not even gathered the strength to reinsert his glass eye. His ward, March Middleton, has been left to dine alone.
Then an eccentric member of a Final Death Society has the temerity to die on his study floor. Finally Sidney and March have an investigation to mount—an investigation that will draw them to an eerie house in Kew and to the mysterious Baroness Foskett.
“Kasasian deepens the mystery of the relationship between his decidedly non–Holmes and Watson duo in his superior second whodunit set in late Victorian London…Kasasian again successfully blends the gruesome and the humorous.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
The first in a charming, evocative, and sharply plotted Victorian crime series starring a detective duo to rival Holmes and Watson
After her father dies, March Middleton has to move to London to live with her guardian, Sidney Grice, the country’s most famous private detective. It is 1882, and London is at its murkiest yet most vibrant, wealthiest yet most poverty-stricken. No sooner does March arrive than a case presents itself: a young woman has been brutally murdered, and her husband is the only suspect. The victim’s mother is convinced of her son-in-law’s innocence, and March is so touched by her pleas she offers to cover Sidney’s fee herself.
The investigation leads the pair to the darkest alleys of the East End, and every twist leads Sidney Grice to think his client is guilty. But March is convinced he is innocent. Around them London reeks with the stench of poverty and gossip, the case threatens to boil over into civil unrest, and Sidney Grice finds his reputation is not the only thing in mortal danger.
“[A] sparkling debut…Playful references suggest that Arthur Conan Doyle will model Sherlock Holmes on Grice. But unlike Holmes and Watson, the feisty, gin-swigging Middleton and irascible, mercenary Grice are evenly matched in both brains and determination. Their clever sparring, the appealing secondary characters, and an ingenious plot bode well for future installments.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
